dwarf puffer

[frogman5]

Right now i have a spare 5 gallon tank i saw dwarf puffers at my local fish store and liked them so i just some basic info about them like how many can i keep in a 5 gallon, what type of ph do they like and wat temp do they enjoyed right now i have some water laid out for my other fish with no ammonia and no nitrates so i think im good on water but i would like to no more about them so please tell me as much as possible.

[Boxermom]

1 DP per 5g is our recommendation. You could also have a couple of otos or some shrimp, although the shrimp might get eaten by the DP. They can adjust to pretty much any pH as long as its stable. Temp is best mid to upper 70s IME. They must be in a fully cycled aquarium with loads of decor/plants. Check the entry in the PufferPedia above (under the Learn tab) for more info.

[frogman5]

alright thanks my water is moderatly hard so it should stay stable and ill add a piece of limestone to it so it buffers it up to make sure it doesnt chang e but u think a ph of 6.7 would be fine if not i can add a different type of water to it to make it higher.

[Boxermom]

You have hard water and a pH of 6.7? Weird. It'll be fine though. If you do want to adjust it, rather than using the limestone, you could use crushed coral as the substrate or put some in a bag in the filter.

[frogman5]

or no i meant its moderatly soft my bad and does reef sand work as a buffer i heard it does but dont no if its true and I Know that since its soft the ph could swing maybe but i havent had any troubles in the past but just to make sure wat should i add to keep the ph from swinging

[Boxermom]

Reef sand or crushed coral will buffer it, yes.

[frogman5]

alright thanks I think im just going to add some biospira to it so it cycles quicker and how long do u think I should wait before putting him in after i put the bio spira in.

[CoreyK]

Per the Bio-Spira directions, you add fish at the same time as the Bio-spira.

[frogman5]

yeh i no ill just add my danios